Jesse Slade and Associates has been helping injured federal employees with their OWCP claims since 2007. If you need help with your OWCP claim, contact Jesse at owcpslayer@gmail.com
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Sunday, April 30, 2017

Schedule Awards-Revisions to FECA Manual

There have been some new revisions to the FECA Manual part two at 2-0808 that may have a positive result for schedule awards.

The first change has to do with the District Medical Adviser, (DMA). In the past, when OWCP sent you to a second opinion about your schedule award and the DMA did not agree with the second opinion this created a conflict in medical opinion that resulted in being sent to a referee physician.

The new change indicates that the DMA cannot create a conflict in medical opinion with a second opinion physician because both the DMA and the second opinion work for OWCP. A conflict in medical opinion occurs when a doctor on your side disagrees with a doctor on OWCP's side. Since both the DMA and the second opinion are on OWCP's side, there cannot be a conflict.

Instead, the DMA must provide a medical report with medical rationale stating why they don't agree with the second opinion and the CE is to ask for a clarification report from the second opinion if the DMA does not agree with the impairment rating.

After receiving the clarification from the second opinion, the Claims Examiner, (CE) must then weigh the medical evidence to see if there is a conflict in medical opinion between your doctor's rating and one of OWCP's physicians. There can no longer be a conflict in medical opinion between two of OWCP's doctors.

The next change concerns the referee physician. In the past, OWCP would send the referee report to the DMA for review. The new change indicates that if the referee's report resolves the conflict and provides a thorough explanation of the impairment and cites the proper tables and charts, then the referee opinion is determined to be accurate and review by the DMA is no longer necessary.

The CE may send the referee report to the DMA but this is no longer automatic. Instead, the CE only has the DMA review a referee opinion if there is an issue with the referee's report.

Also, if there is an issue with the referee report, the CE should ask for clarification from the referee and not send it to the DMA to clarify. Only the doctor who wrote the report can clarify their own opinion.

The last change is a big one for some claimants. In the past, OWCP only allowed ratings only for accepted conditions even though this is not how the law is written.

The new change indicates that OWCP MUST follow the law and impairment ratings should include both work-related and non-work-related conditions to the same covered body part (arm, leg, etc).

For instance let's say that OWCP has accepted a specific condition in your shoulder and OWCP approved surgery on the shoulder but that same shoulder has pre-existing arthritis that is not accepted.

In the past OWCP would only accept ratings that included the impairment due to the accepted conditions and not the pre-existing arthritis. Now OWCP has to accept the impairment rating that includes the pre-existing arthritis even though it isn't accepted by OWCP.

Or say you have a left knee condition that is not work-related but you also have an accepted left ankle condition and both of these conditions affect your left leg and cause an impairment. OWCP must accept the impairment to the left knee which is not accepted as well as the left ankle which is accepted.

Or say that OWCP did not accept all the conditions to a body part when the claim was accepted. The conditions OWCP did not accept must now be included in the impairment rating if they result in a loss of use.

In other words, OWCP has to accept the Total loss of the covered body part at the time of the rating and OWCP can no longer 'portion' out your rating, they must accept and pay for a rating that includes ALL conditions that affect the covered body part whether the conditions are accepted or not.

This could result in higher impairment ratings for people who have conditions to the same body part that are not accepted by OWCP or that pre-existed the work-related injuries.

The FECA
Manual part two at 2-0808-5(d) has been changed to read:

"Rated impairment
should reflect the total loss as evaluated for the scheduled member
(i.e. arm, leg, etc.) at the time of the rating examination. See Raymond E. Gwynn,
35 ECAB 247, 253 (1983). There are no provisions for apportionment under the
FECA. As such, schedule awards include permanent impairment resulting from
conditions accepted by the OWCP as job-related as well as and any non-industrial
permanent impairment present in the same scheduled member at the time of the
rating examination.

As long as the work-related
injury has affected any residual usefulness, in whole or in part, of a scheduled
member, a schedule award may be appropriate. Similarly, an increase in schedule
award may be appropriate as long as a material change in the work-related
injury is at least in part contributory to an increase in impairment of the
scheduled member.

For example, if an aggravation
of left hip osteoarthritis is accepted as work-related but the claimant also suffers
from non-industrial left knee osteoarthritis, both of which have resulted in
permanent impairment, an assessment of
impairment should reflect the total loss of the left leg, to include both the
industrial and non- industrial injuries."

Hopefully this will force OWCP to follow regulations.

These changes should mean a faster turnaround time for schedule awards because less time is wasted on the DMA and there cannot be a conflict in medical opinion between the DMA and one of OWCP's physicians.

It should also result in higher impairment ratings for some claimants because OWCP has to accept impairment ratings that include all conditions that impair the covered body part.

At some point during your OWCP claims process, you're going to need a narrative medical report from your physician. Your claim won't...

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Jesse Slade

Do you need help with your OWCP claim but just can’t afford the attorney or representative’s costly retainer and hourly rate?

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"Jesse Slade was my ‘rescue’ to an untenable situation I encountered with OWCP. The deadlines and type of specific documentation claimants must provide from their treating physician to OWCP is non-negotiable. But this does not apply, equally, to OWCP. As a claimant, this lack of quid pro quo is frustrating on various levels (physical, psychological and financial to name a few).

I was sent to a Referee examination (based on manufactured conflict of medical opinion between treating MD and 2nd opinion MD) that lasted less than ten minutes.

But this Referee examination contained conflicting information, yet my employing agency generated a job offer from it. I had to work this new job offer or lose all rightfully earned OWCP benefits but at a cost of new consequential injuries.

With Jesse’s extensive knowledge base in all things OWCP, extensive professional experience and (ultimately) retention of Jesse as my legal representative; in the end, I was successful in having OWCP admit my arguments were justifiable and this specific job offer was unsuitable, along with accepting consequential injuries. Jesse’s total fee was $700.00. This positive outcome would not have occurred without Jesse Slade.” HDW Wisconsin

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Jesse’s knowledge in all the areas of OWCP regulations is superior to any of the expensive attorneys or other firms.

It was a blessing to see Jesse’s website and it saved me from many issues that involved OWCP.

Jesse is just a great person if you need help dealing with issues involving FECA regulations.

I will always recommend Jesse and thanks so much for being there when I needed you on the issues I have had. T.D. Oklahoma

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To USPS employees, Jesse has been a great help to me in the re-opening of my OWCP case that was close since June 2009 for wrongfully terminate benefits due to the IME! My case was re-opened in Sept 2014. Have patience and don't give up!! Jesse knows the Owcp laws!!

Thank you Jesse and I'm glad you helped me with any questions I had!! God Bless and you’re an Angel to me!! Benefits are still coming and it's been a long time waiting!! A.T.

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About 5 months ago while looking for a OWCP attorney I came across a web site called the OWCP classroom, I went over the site and felt like I found the right person, Jesse Slade to handle my OWCP situation so I emailed Jesse and asked for her phone number and I called about my situation.

Prior to Jesse I spoke to an attorney who just wanted me to get an impairment rating so he could get 15% of my award money plus legal fees which I found out from Jesse that it was against the law for an attorney to charge 15% plus fees, so right from there Jesse was the person I needed to handle my case.

Jesse knows the OWCP system and the laws and how it works. I sent my medical records and dr reports to Jesse Slade and she wrote OWCP a letter to my claims examiner asking to add more medical conditions that should of been on my original claim from the get go.

To me Jesse Slade is a life saver and a person I would recommend to anyone who needs help with their OWCP situation. C.N Brooklyn, NY

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The DOL/OWCP can be very complicated and frustrating to navigate and there are many pitfalls you never know about until it is upon you or you are in the pit. I tell people all the time I know more about the Federals Workers Comp process than I ever wanted to know.

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I'm a long term OWCP Loss of Wages Compensation, Disability recipient. Over the 30 or so years I've been dealing with OWCP I've found it extremely difficult to make sense of OWCP rules and regulations. So much so that if I happen to be under attack from them, i.e. threatening to cut off my compensation for one reason or another, I stand little chance of making adequate use of OWCP manuals, etc. because my particular PTSD gets activated and all I can do is hang on and try to survive it all.

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